
Ray Charles and the Raelettes, 1967
I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water.
– Ray Charles

Ray Charles and the Raelettes, 1967

Ray Charles’love affair with the blonde Finnish journalist Raita Johnson started with an interview at the Jazz festival in Antibes, 1961

Ray Charles in the record studio, 1966